A Dark Harvest of Violence. Is "losing is not an option" still on the menu?

The iconic symbol of bounty, harvest and giving thanks is the cornucopia. It is the familiar conical basket spilling all the season’s goodness and harvest before you and for you. Yet on the penultimate day, before that truly universal and wonderful American Holiday, Thanksgiving, the world is turning into a basket case of violence and doing so at an accelerating and alarming pace.

Now Lebanon-again, and Iran, Iraq, Korea, the streets of Paris, Afghanistan, East Africa, are just a small part of violence rising on a global scale. The name attached to most of the violence has become that familiar verbal duet, “Islamic Terror”. The world is harvesting the malignant crop of a religion and cult gone terribly badly. It is unique in that its evil affects are everywhere. There are the obvious consequences to travel, trade and security. Enter any high-rise office building and you must pass through a security check not thought of a few years ago. The effects have spilled across all parts of diplomacy and foreign relationships. Even North Korea developing nuclear weapons is far more sinister because of the fear of them getting into the hands of Islamist fanatics. Nuclear weapons in the arsenals of most states would hardly register a concern, because we know the chances of them ever being used is nil. That is not so when you attach the word, Islam.

Ten percent of the world’s Muslims are considered radical to the extreme in their sympathies and practice towards Islamic Terror. That is 100 million people. A nuclear weapon that falls into the hands of the worst one percent of this ten percent would make one million hardcore stone cold nutso fanatics. If this part of humanity gets a nuclear weapon, they will use is.

Many of us, including this critic, have been very tough on the Bush Administration for their conduct and misteps in Iraq. They have made their own cornucopia of mistakes, but in our criticism, we must not lose sight of the motivation behind the Administration. They want to save the world from militant Islam. That is a worthy and necessary goal. For that we should give thanks, but good intentions are not enough when the stakes are so high. Early on, before "staying the course" we heard "losing is not an option". Have we forgotten that? I believe some of us have.